Development of the third sector in Russia is accompanied with its maintenance of open-access state registries of non-profit organizations. Compared to the NPO registries in other countries, those in Russia appeared 10-15 years later and became new tools for the development of the non-profit sector. The purpose of this article is to categorize the functions of NPO registries in other countries, as well as suggest those attributed to Russian NPO registries. The following hypothesis is put forward in the article: Russian NPO registries have similar functions as registries in other countries, but they are currently not being fully implemented. There are four registries in the focus of the research: the registry of NPOs by the Ministry of Justice of Russia and three types of registries of socially oriented NPOs – recipients of state support, providers of social services, and providers of social care services. The research was carried out by analyzing legal acts which set up the registries, as well as analyzing the registries located on the Internet. The following functions have been suggested: collecting, systematizing and disclosing the information on the third sector; aggregating the data on supply and demand for NPO services; promoting cooperation of NPOs with the state and intersectoral partnerships; promoting government support to NPOs; as well as ensuring accountability of NPOs to the state and society. The hypothesis was confirmed: the functions are not fully implemented due to the lack of clearly defined goals when setting up registries, weaknesses of their structure and formats. Several recommendations were formulated to enhance the system of existing registries and their structure.